A crowd-pulling event that fell foul of the foot-and-mouth crisis last year is to return to the Waterford calendar this summer.
The Waterford Maritime Festival was started in 1999 and had quickly established itself as one of the major events of the June bank holiday weekend.
Its return this summer was announced at a reception on board the naval vessel, the LE Aoife, on a pre-Christmas visit to Waterford.
The festival chairman, Mr Daryl Kavanagh, said it was regrettable the event had to be cancelled last year because of FMD-related restrictions, but the organising committee had been determined to keep the event alive.
"In fact we are at a fairly advanced stage with our planning and are benefiting from having had last year's festival ready to roll before the precautions to curb the spread of foot-and-mouth disease intervened," he said.
Details of the festival would be announced by Easter, but the committee was confident it would be the "biggest and best to date", Mr Kavanagh said.
Popular elements in previous years included air-sea rescue demonstrations by the Air Corps, powerboat racing on the Suir and the Maritime Ball that brings the festival to a close.
A laser show over the Suir on the Saturday and Sunday nights is likely to be a major attraction of this summer's event.
More land-based activities in the pubs, clubs and restaurants of the city, as well as a fun fair on the Quay, are also envisaged, said Mr Kavanagh.